SMS inventor Matti Makkonen dies at 63

Finnish engineer Matti Makkonen, who helped bring text messaging to the world, has died at the age of 63.

Makkonen became known as the father of SMS after developing the idea of sending messages via mobile networks.

Despite the nickname, he was often quick to point out that he did not invent the technology single-handedly.

Speaking on the 20th anniversary of the first text message, Makkonen said that he considered the development of SMS a joint effort and that it was Nokia who helped to popularize the service.

Makkonen pitched the idea of SMS messaging to two colleagues in a pizzeria while at a telecommunications conference in 1984, but it wasn’t until December 3, 1992 that the first text message was sent from a PC to a mobile device via the Vodafone network.